Jesus said to them, “This night you will all stumble because of Me, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
The Lord foretells in advance the disciples’ fall. They all would stumble because of His sufferings, because they could not understand how the Messiah could be arrested and crucified. Christ cites the prophecy, showing that even their scattering was within the scope of God’s word (Zechariah 13:7). The Shepherd is Christ, and the sheep are His disciples. The striking of the Shepherd is the path of the cross, during which the disciples will scatter in fear. Yet with these words the Lord does not reject them once and for all, but reveals their weakness beforehand, so that afterward He may restore them by grace.